Trapper John, M.D.

- Season 1

(1979)

San Francisco Memorial Hospital handles incoming mass casualties from a hotel fire. Chief of Surgery Trapper John McIntyre welcomes aboard an ambitious and unorthodox young surgeon, Gonzo Gates.

Trapper and Gonzo deal with a deranged Vietnam vet, while Stanley tries to save on taxes by incorporating himself.

When an employee from a local nuclear power plant is admitted to SFM with signs of radiation poisoning, Gonzo cannot understand why it appears that nothing is being done to protect other workers from exposure. Meanwhile, Riverside must contend with a very distrusting Gypsy.

A persistent swain of his ex-wife, Melanie, causes both professional and romantic turmoil for Trapper, as his hopes for a reconciliation dwindle when she asks him to treat her new fiancé. Meanwhile, Stanley is determined to get rid of the "Titanic".

A wealthy socialite injured in a car accident tries to cover up the fact that she has no real friends by sending herself flowers and gifts.

A medic who once saved Gonzo's life in Vietnam now wants his friend's help in a fraudulent medical claim.

A young widow with a stomach tumor leans heavily on her 14-year-old son, who has dealt with the pressure by becoming a closet alcoholic.

A local street person known as "Harry the Hinge" is admitted to SFM with kidney failure. Meanwhile, Trapper and Gonzo decide to protest a decision to divert free-clinic funds to the pet project of a one of the hospital's major benefactors.

A group of radicals kidnap Melanie and give Trapper an ultimatum: either he kills a policeman who has survived two earlier murder attempts or they will kill his ex-wife.

A boy is brought in and he calls his father to come. He offers to donate blood if he needs it. But tests reveal the man is not the boy's father. He tells them he found him a few years ago and took him in. And he eventually would think of him as his son. Trapper tells the authorities and they learns that the boy ran away from his mother. When she comes he doesn't want to be with her. But the man doesn't have any rights so he tells him he has to go with her. And he becomes catatonic.

A brilliant improvisation saves the life of a hit-and-run victim, but causes problems for Trapper and Riverside.

There is a bomb somewhere in the hospital set to go off at midnight, the night of Trapper's 10th anniversary as chief of surgery. The bomb squad can't find it, and the man who planted it is dying from bullet wounds.

Gloria falls for a man in a wheelchair - who happens to already have a wife. Gonzo firmly believes that he can cure a disabled man with surgery, but said patient is against the operation. Trapper resents Starch labelling him "predictable", and decides to do something about it.

A former patient who recovered from terminal cancer using a holistic approach he devised has written a book and is looking for converts. The patient convinces a lupus patient to stop all medical treatment, and nearly allows her to die before accepting that she needs help he cannot give her. Meanwhile, SFM admits a gang member who likes to draw graffiti and does so on hospital property.

Stanley thinks he has finally found the love of his life in the hospital's excellent new neurosurgeon, until he learns how she made the money to get through medical school. A sleazy reporter looking for dirt around the hospital gets more than he bargained for.

A patient who is diagnosed with a serious form of cancer finds inspiration in a woman with Lou Gehrig's disease.

At first Trapper is not concerned when an old friend starts to behave erratically, but Gonzo suspects that something is wrong, especially when the doctor freezes during an emergency. Meanwhile, San Francisco Memorial is flooded with patients from a nearby hospital, after it is damaged by fire.

A possible nurse's strike threatens the hospital as well as Gonzo's love life.

Gonzo is suspicious of a young Korean man who comes to the hospital claiming to be the long-lost son of Trapper. A woman with a history of faking illness is surprised when she is diagnosed with a rare disease.

Gonzo tries to date a new surgeon who suffers a loss of confidence after her first patient dies.

Trapper's ex-wife Melanie finds a baby in a fitting room and the hospital is put at risk when the baby is found to have a form of the plague.

Gonzo and the staff decide to start a hot-line for people to anonymously call with their problems. Trapper takes a risk by bringing in a retired doctor with an alcohol problem to help perform a rare eye operation.